With this mani, I’m finally finished trying all the Hunger Games polishes I have. It’s a small accomplishment but getting through a collection feels nice. 🙂 China Glaze Smoke and Ashes (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a black base loaded with blue-green microglitter:

Picture taken in sunlight. I wouldn’t say the formula is buttery smooth, but I chalk that up to all the microglitter in the base. It still applied quite well in two coats. In low light this looks like your typical sparkly black. In the sun, though, it’s anything but. Bright light illuminates all that microglitter. There’s so much of it that it gives the overall color a sort of blackened teal cast. The finish definitely has that glowing embers just under the surface quality going on. I don’t think I have another black microglitter that looks quite like this; it’s absolutely stunning and gorgeous. I paired this with Sephora by OPI Teal We Meet Again on my toes.

This was a NOTD I wore earlier this week. I always manage to have a taupe to try in March. China Glaze Foie Gras (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a deep, brown-purple taupe creme:

Picture taken in natural light. (I wish I had had sun for this photo, because this is definitely one of my favorite taupes!) This applied well and was very pigmented; I got full coverage in two smooth coats. Whether they’re brown or grey leaning, I’m partial to the darker taupes, and this is one of them. This shade is brown-leaning, with some purple tones, but still has a good balance of grey that keeps it in the taupe family. When a polish is named after foie gras, I can’t help but make the association, and make myself totally hungry. I love foie gras. 🙂 This doesn’t match the color of the real thing, but I like this polish shade much better anyway. I paired it with OPI Meet Me on the Star Ferry on my toes.

In previous years I’ve reserved January for trying dark colors that seem apt for the cold season. That didn’t happen so much this year, but I thought I’d harken back to that theme with this polish. It’s not new but I finally picked this up in my most recent haul, so it’s relatively new to my own collection. China Glaze Stone Cold (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a matte charcoal with silver microshimmer:

Picture taken in weak sunlight. I had forgotten how awesome mattes are, particularly this “suede” variety. True to a matte formula, you have to work fast when you paint or risk major cuticle drag. This one flowed very smoothly. It could have been a one-coater due to its high pigmentation, but I ended up doing two coats, just to ensure coverage of bald spots. I’m sure this looks gorgeous with topcoat as well, but I embraced the suede finish and let it be. It dries and sets really fast, and is pretty hard-wearing, especially for a mani that’s without the protection of a topcoat. I also love the texture of the finish; often times I would find myself running my fingerpads over my nails. Another plus of the finish is that the shimmer is clearly visible even in low light. The charcoal color is great; it’s at a level of darkness that really makes the silver microshimmer stand out. I wish more new suede polishes would come out, because I’m falling in love with this finish all over again! I paired it with RGB Cosmetics Steel on my toes.

For Thanksgiving tomorrow I picked a glitterbomb of a polish, knowing it would hold up well during all the cooking, dishwashing, etc. China Glaze Electrify (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a gold glitter, small gold hex glitter, and larger red hex glitter in a clear base:

Picture taken in sunlight. As with glitter polishes with this type of formula, it’s sheer at first but thickens up as you work with it, making it easier to get a solid coat. I ended up doing three for full coverage. It’s definitely a topcoat eater, so apply more than one coat if you’re after that glassy smooth finish. This isn’t one of those glitters where you have one dominant color and just a sprinkling of the other; there’s quite a bit of red in there! I’d still call this mainly a gold polish, because there is slightly more gold glitter, and two types of it as well, but the red glitter still has a strong presence on the nail. The two colors play off each other nicely; the bright red looks lovely mixed in with the warm gold. Of course, all that glitter means it’s super sparkly. 🙂 I paired this with China Glaze Ruby Pumps on my toes.

This polish definitely puts me in the mood for Thanksgiving next week. China Glaze Harvest Moon (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a warm copper foily shimmer:

Picture taken in sunlight. (Click to see in clearer detail.) This applied well, and for the type of formula, it was pretty opaque and provided full coverage in two coats. The finish is gorgeous! It’s nice and sparkly in a foil-like way. Any brushstrokes that would come from this being a metallic color are covered up by the shimmer. I love the copper color as well; it’s rich and cosy and just makes me think of warmth and the fall season. I paired this with Color Club Blue-topia on my toes.

I know this Hunger Games collection came out to coincide with the film’s release, but I always thought the colors seemed more fall-like, so I’m trying them now. China Glaze Agro (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a yellow-toned olive-leaf green shimmer:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well and was highly pigmented; I needed two coats for total coverage. There are brushstrokes, but they’re the kind that look like delicate ribbons of shimmer rather than frosty streaks. The bright sun really brings out the leaf green aspect of the color, but out of such direct light it looks more olive. I spot different colors of shimmer in there, but the dominant color is gold, which lends an overall yellow tone to the green. I love this polish; the combination of the shade and finish give it an incredibly lush and rich look. I paired this with OPI Overexposed in South Beach on my toes.

Since it is the month of Halloween I figured I’d throw in an orange. China Glaze Riveting (The Hunger Games Capitol Colors) is a fiery orange and gold microglitter:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well; I got full coverage in two coats. This is such a lovely, bold shade of orange. The finish is amazing! There’s something glass-fleck-y about it, in that the microglitter looks so well-defined even out of direct light. I don’t think the base is quite jelly-ish enough to call it a true glass-fleck, though. The addition of the gold microglitter really adds to the glowy, burning ember quality of the overall look. It makes me think of not just fire, but lava. I doubled up on orange today and paired this with OPI A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find on my toes.